Description:

This project aims to investigate the artefacts
found in Britain between about 300 BC and 150 AD which have come to
be known as ‘Celtic Art’. Although, in recent years, questions have
been raised about whether the Celts actually did exist as a
distinct group of people, the term ‘Celtic Art’ continues to be
used to describe a group of distinctively decorated objects found right across Europe
during the later Iron Age and early Roman periods.

The Celtic Art style incorporates abstract
patterns, along with semi-abstract and naturalistic human, animal
and plant imagery. It is clearly distinguishable from Roman and
Greek Classical art of the same date. The majority of Celtic Art
objects are made of metal (including bronze, iron, gold and
silver). However, the distinctive decorative patterns are also
found occasionally on objects made from bone, wood and pottery.
Some of the most famous items are the torcs buried at Snettisham,
the Battersea shield which was deposited in the River Thames, and
several bronze mirrors found mostly in southern Britain.

In the past, Celtic Art has been analysed in
much the same way as more recent paintings and sculpture: people
have focused on the various motifs decorating the objects and
discussed how they changed gradually over time. The aim of this
project, however, is to place these undeniably beautiful artefacts
back into their archaeological contexts and to investigate how they
fitted into the Iron Age and Romano-British societies in which they
were made.

Objectives:

The project seeks to understand why Celtic Art
objects were made in the first place, how they were used and why
they often seem to have been intentionally deposited in rivers or
under the ground. The first task has been to compile a
comprehensive database of all Celtic Art ever found in Britain. The
database includes not only excavated finds, but also those recently
reported by metal detectorists to the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
As a result, the research team have been able to answer questions
such as: in which regions of Britain different types of objects
were used, what kinds of sites they were found on, exactly when
they were made in, and what kinds of materials they were made
from.

The transitions which occurred in Britain
around 100 BC, and after 43 AD (when the Roman army invaded
Britain), represent key points of social and economic change in
Britain’s past. During the first century BC, the traditional,
communal form of life shifted rapidly to a world where certain
individuals became more important. During the first century AD,
Britain became fully a part of the Roman Empire. In studying Celtic
Art over the whole of this period, the team hopes to discover what
role these objects played in these changes. What kinds of
activities were they drawn in to? What did they mean to people?
Were objects such as torcs and swords symbols of power? And why did
such different things as brooches and mirrors, weapons and chariot
gear come to be decorated in similar ways?